obama to get more federal aid for victims of hurricane sandy. president obama's expected to ask congress for an additional $50 billion to help states hit by the october storm, but christie says sandy will cost new jersey alone up to $37 billion. new york governor andrew cuomo and new york city mayor michael bloomberg also made similar trips to d.c. recently to push for more federal support. >>> after a delay noted by none other than "the new york times's" maureen dowd, secretary of state hillary clinton is coming to the defense of u.n. ambassador susan rice, calling her a stalwart colleague. rice is seen as a top pick to succeed clinton in the state department, but is under attack by republicans who accuse her of misleading the public in the aftermath of the september 11th attacks at the u.s. consulate in benghazi. >> and it's important to remember what susan said was based on the information that had been given to every senior official in our administration, and she made very clear in her appearances that the information was subject to change a